Marcos Pizzelli's cool finish earned Dan Petrescu's FC Kuban a 1-0 win over Rubin Kazan in the Russian Premier League on Sunday.
Pizzelli side-footed home just before half time after striker Lacina Traore lost control of the ball, which bounced invitingly into the path of the Armenian.
With their first home win since September, Kuban remain eighth but move to 54 points, two short of Anzhi, who travel to Lokomotiv Moscow later Sunday.
"The wind and condition of the pitch of course had an affect on the quality of the game, but the most important thing is to register a win, which we haven't been able to do yet this year," Petrescu said.
Rubin stay in sixth but could be overtaken if Guus Hiddink's men win in Moscow.
The visitors enjoyed a lot of possession in sunny Krasnodar but failed to make it count and were frequently exposed by Kuban on the counterattack.
Alexander Ryazantsev came close for the visitors on several occasions, stinging the gloves of Kuban goalkeeper Alexander Belenov from distance on 14 minutes.
Kuban's Gheorghe Bucur ran clear on a square ball from Traore on 34 minutes but fired agonizingly wide with only goalkeeper Sergei Ryzhikov to beat.
The Romanian wasted an almost identical chance late in the second half before Rubin had a strong penalty appeal turned down when a defender appeared to handle the ball.
Earlier Sunday, bottom team FC Tom Tomsk earned a 0-0 draw at Amkar Perm. Krylya Sovetov were to host Spartak Nalchik later Sunday.
